After the KK Mart Allah socks controversy, controversial Chinese-Muslim preacher Firdaus Wong is back at it again. This time it involves a T-shirt or more specifically, a T-shirt bearing a Christian message. The T-shirt was worn by the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Oleksandr Usyk. He wore the t-shirt prior to his match against Tyson Fury on the 18th of May 2024 for the undisputed heavyweight title.
Firdaus Wong wrote a post on Facebook in which he highlighted the alleged “double standards” of the local and international media. He also claims in the same post that had a Muslim worn a T-shirt like that, he would have “been arrested by the police before even entering the ring”. His post on Facebook is as follows (originally in Malay but translated into English for this article):
"Before the fight with Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk wore a T-shirt with the message;
‘ΟΡΘΟΔΟΧΙΑ Η ΘΑΝΑΤΟC’
Which means;
‘(CHRISTIAN) ORTHODOXY OR DEATH’
Almost no international or local media covered the message on his T-shirt.
Imagine if a Muslim wore a T-shirt like this? They would have been arrested by the police before even entering the ring.
Yes, right? Extreme titles and terrorists seem to be exclusively reserved for Muslims only. If a Muslim did something like this, Islam and all Muslims would be held responsible and blamed.
But if they do it, they and a few apologetic Muslims will say;
'Oh relax. It's just a T-shirt. You guys are too sensitive.'
Okay, fine. Hopefully they'll be consistent with that principle.
I think there will be religious leaders in Malaysia, especially from the coalition of non-Muslims, MCCBCHST (referring to the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism), who will condemn Usyk, right?"
The post was later reposted on Reddit with the title ‘Firdaus Wong: Professional Victim’ along with the caption, ‘No wayang? Just make your own wayang’. It garnered significant attention and comments from fellow Redditors. “What is this Firdaus Wong yapping about?” commented Hot-Abbreviations623. “Isn't it tiring to be constantly hateful?” said Saerah4. “Who does he think he is? Try to stir things that happened in other country up as if the people there will care about you. This guy thinks that he's a big shot after causing the KKmart fiasco. People like him can only stay relevant by using religion as a tool to cause provocation.” commented 4luv4Simp.
Firdaus Wong's critique of perceived media bias, illustrated through Oleksandr Usyk's Christian-themed T-shirt, has sparked controversy. By highlighting the potential consequences a Muslim athlete could face for a comparable action, Wong challenges, in his opinion, the consistent negative portrayal of Muslims. However, the backlash he encountered, especially on platforms like Reddit, raises questions about the validity of his critique. What do you think of this issue? Is he right for calling out what he believes to be media bias in reporting? Let me know in the comments.
Aaron Colt is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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